Move upstream for Barwon bream this monthNeil Slater | First Published: April 2005

For a non-existent summer, the fish still seemed to bite very well!

We’ve had one of the best snapper seasons I can remember and the whiting came through very well also.

Brendan from Ray Long’s Fishing Tackle reports there has been heaps of garfish lurking about some of the piers and especially Point Henry for boat anglers. A little burley can soon see these tasty fish swarming in good numbers at the back of the boat. Just remember to use small super-sharp hooks under your floats as they do have pretty hard mouths.

The whiting have been reasonably consistent in Corio Bay, despite the cool snap in early March. The salmon that normally come into the bay over March have been a little hard to find, as have the flatties. However, the flatties that have been caught have been of good size.

Apart from the good numbers of gar, the piers have been a little slower than normal with anglers having to put in extra time to land a few snapper or whiting.

The snapper are still about in Corio Bay, with the average fish from 2-3kg. Gordon from Scriv’s Geelong Bait and Tackle reported a 4kg snapper taken from Corio Bay, as well as a fair few similar sized examples.

Tib Polgar from Ocean Grove reports there were plenty of whiting in close around Curlewis and Clifton Springs until the pros came in and netted in the area. Tib also reports running into a submerged dredging pipe at the entrance to the Clifton Springs boat harbour. This thick steel pipe was a mere 8cm under the water and Tib estimates around 100 boats hit it (including his, which required about $200 in repairs). There was a float nearby apparently indicating the course boaters were supposed to go to avoid the pipe, but as we all know, a float nearby normally indicates an underwater obstacle so most avoided it. Magically, after Tib’s story was published in the local paper, the pipe was nowhere to be seen.

Sean ‘Splinter’ Devlin from Barwon Heads reports the bream have moved upstream in the Barwon River and are taking bass yabbies around the Sheepwash area.

Ken ‘Stretch’ Stevens reports a few elephant fish were taken in the Barwon River in early March after dark. Anglers who are keen on these fish should wait a few more weeks for them to return from spawning in Lake Connewarre.

Deano McDonald says that there are some decent sharks still about and that they can be taken in as close as the 40m mark. Deano has also taken some nice flatties and gummy sharks drifting at this depth.

Nathan Alsop is a very competent soft plastic angler and has taken some very nice snapper to 1.2kg casting eyeball tails and bass minnows around the Geelong Waterfront. Nathan also reports taking some nice flatties to 40cm using the same method.

Some nice whiting have been taken along the Peninsula from Queenscliff to Indented Head. Bag limits have been rare, but the size of fish has more than made up for this, with fish from 38–45cm coming in.

If you have a report, send me the details via email. Please include details such as angler, species, where it was caught (no secret spots necessary!) and what kind of bait was used.